Bronze dragonflight
The stoic bronze dragonflight were charged long ago as the wardens of Azeroth's timestream from all who would seek to disrupt its flow, guided by Nozdormu's wise, all-knowing counsel. Bronze dragons police the ever-spinning pathways of fate and destiny, protecting them from interlopers, and restoring them to their proper state. While the Caverns of Time are the flight's home, Tanaris Desert is their province. They could once see the past and future with perfect clarity. They can still travel the timeways, but don't have that perfect knowledge anymore since Deathwing's defeat. They've also lost the ability to control the flow of time. A growing faction of discontent within the Bronze dragons believes they should change history to make a better future. Kairozdormu appears to be a part of this faction, and it is possible that this faction will become the Infinite dragonflight. History Charge of the Dragonflights Before the Titans departed Azeroth, they charged the greatest species of the world with the task of watching over it. In that age, there were many dragonflights, yet five flights, one of which was the bronze, held dominion over their brethren, and were chosen to shepherd the budding world. The greatest members of the Pantheon imbued a portion of their power upon each of the flights' leaders. Aman'Thul, the Highfather of the Pantheon, bestowed a portion of his cosmic power upon the massive bronze dragon, Nozdormu. The Highfather empowered Nozdormu to guard time itself and police the ever-spinning pathways of fate and destiny. The stoic, honorable Nozdormu became known as the Timeless One. The time following this came to be known as the age of dragons, when the civilization of dragonkind was at its peak. War of the Ancients When the night elves inadvertently called the Burning Legion to the world, the Aspect of the Earth, Neltharion, suggested creating a magical artifact to aid in the destruction of the demons. Nozdormu was strangely absent at the time, unable to be located even by his own flight, and so his Prime consort Soridormi, using an Hourglass holding a portion of the Bronze Aspect's power, gave much of her mate's essence toward the creation of this object, called the Dragon Soul. When each dragon had contributed a portion of his or her essence to the artifact, Neltharion deemed it complete. The bronzes joined the other dragons in flight over the battle and the Black Aspect brought the Dragon Soul to bear against the Legion, with devastating effects on the demonic swarm — but only for a precious few moments. He then shocked his fellow aspects and turned the artifact against the terrified night elves as well, and finally his own brethren. The shocked dragons were helpless to resist the power of the Dragon Soul, for it contained a fraction of the essence of each — with the exception of Neltharion himself. All the dragonflights, save Neltharion's own, were paralyzed in midair until the timely intervention of Korialstrasz, a mate of the red dragonqueen, who had been absent from the initial use of the artifact. While Korialstrasz was no match for the Aspect of Earth, he did manage to interrupt Neltharion's concentration for a moment, freeing the other dragons from their paralysis and allowing them to act. Malygos, infuriated at the betrayal by his ally, struck first, but at a great price. As the blue dragonflight flew into formation to attack Neltharion, the mighty black wyrm unleashed the full fury of the Dragon Soul against them, and the power instantly slew nearly every one of them. As the other dragons turned to act, Neltharion retreated, leaving the blue dragonflight broken in his wake. Aftermath of the Sundering Deathwing’s betrayal was so destructive that the five dragonflights never truly recovered. If that had not been enough, the ensuing war between the dragonflights decimated the species, and the bronzes were no exception. They would never again be seen in the same numbers as before. The age of Dragons had passed. To ensure Deathwing would never hold power over dragonkind again, Alexstrasza, Ysera, and Nozdormu placed an enchantment upon the Demon Soul, so that no dragon could wield it, and hid the foul disc deep beneath the earth. The trio later visited the Night Elven survivors to present the devastated race a gift. Alexstrasza had planted a colossal tree that scraped the heavens, within the new Well of Eternity that would come to be known as Nordrassil. Both Nozdormu and Ysera placed their blessings upon it. Through the World Tree Nozdormu gave the Kaldorei the gift of immortality, telling them as long as it stood, they would never age or fall prey to sickness or disease. Wounded and shocked, Soridormi and the other noble dragons were forced to abandon their mortal allies. The dragonflights secluded themselves, hoping to recover from the Dragon Soul's powers, but the damage to the draconic race had been done. The Kaldorei and their allies just barely managed to defeat the legion, but at great cost. Azeroth was sundered. War of the Shifting Sands A millennia ago the bronze flight was approached by the night elves to assist in defeating the Qiraji during the War of the Shifting Sands. The bronze flight initially refused but reconsidered when the insectoids attacked the fabled Caverns of Time, home of Nozdormu and the bronze dragons. The bronzes joined the fight but when the combined power of the kaldorei and the bronze flight was still not enough to push back the Silithid and their Qiraji masters, Anachronos, heir of Nozdormu, called upon the other flights for assistance. Finally they managed to seal the insectoids away in their city of Ahn'Qiraj behind the Scarab Wall. The dragons suffered few casualties but the great bronze wyrm, Grakkarond, was lost during one of the battles. After the war Anachronos entrusted the shards of the Scepter of the Shifting Sands to members of the other flights, Vaelastrasz, Azuregos, and Eranikus, keeping a shard for himself. Battle of Grim Batol In the events leading up to the Second War, Deathwing led a powerful orc warlock named Nekros to the Dragon Soul — now renamed the Demon Soul. Nekros used the Demon Soul to force the red Dragon Aspect, Alexstrasza, into submission, and forced the rest of the red dragonflight to serve him or risk the death of their queen. Korialstrasz, who escaped by faking his death sought the assistance of the other Aspects to free his queen. While well aware of this, Nozdormu was nonetheless content to let the events in the mortal world unfold as they would. Korialstrasz invoked a powerful spell to transport himself to Nozdormu's lair, but the Lord of Time was less than pleased to have his peace disturbed. After listening to the red consort's plea, Nozdormu declined and decided to erase the visit from the timeline all together. It wasn't until some coaxing from Ysera that he finally agreed. With the Aspects convinced, Korialstrasz waited until Nekros brought Alexstrasza and her eggs out of the fortress, just as Deathwing had desired. When Deathwing made his appearance, Nozdormu and the others arrived and proceeded to battle Deathwing in the sky near Grim Batol. Korialstrasz's human apprentice, Rhonin, defeated Nekros and used one of Deathwing's scales to destroy the Demon Soul. The destruction of the artifact released the ancient power that had been sealed inside for millennia, making the Aspects whole once more and allowing them to overpower Deathwing and force his retreat. This final battle was known as the Battle of Grim Batol. After having the power they lost ten thousand years ago returned to them, the bronzes came out of hiding and resumed their watch of the mortal realm. Bronze dragons were once again spotted across southern Kalimdor and bronze agents secretly infiltrated mortal societies. Third War Like the other dragonflights, the Bronze dragonflight did not play any significant role in the events of the Third War. The Horde Warchief Thrall did however encounter a group of hostile bronze whelps upon making landfall in The Barrens. Time Anomaly In the aftermath of the Third War Nozdormu mysteriously went missing yet again. The red dragon Korialstrasz received the faintest of messages from the Bronze Aspect: visions of him trapped in the time stream, a helpless prisoner of a powerful time anomaly created by the Old Gods. The red consort, along with his former apprentice Rhonin, traveled to the Stonetalon Mountains to investigate this anomaly and were themselves caught within it along with the orc Broxigar. The trio were saved by Nozdormu and cast back into Azeroth, but they found themselves ten thousand years in the past during the War of the Ancients. The time travelers became entangled in the conflict themselves before another vision by Korialstrasz showed Nozdormu, fighting back against his captors by having called multiple instances of himself from different time periods to assist him. The Old Gods had been manipulating Deathwing, and needed his precious Demon Soul for the Legion to succeed in opening their portal to Azeroth, in turn allowing the monstrous Old Gods to follow in their wake. The time-travelers assisted the other Aspects and Soridormi in battle over the Well of Eternity and just managed closing the great portal, thwarting the Old Gods from escaping. Nozdormu was then able to break free from their anomaly, rejoining the other dragons, and returned Krasus and Rhonin to their proper time. Culture Bronze dragons exist to keep the time stream inviolate and the order of events progressing as the fates intended. Bronze dragons are very sensitive to the flow and ebb of the time stream, especially Nozdormu and his prime consort Soridormi. From within their home, The Caverns of Time, located underneath the vast sands of the Tanaris desert, the wardens of time can often be found disguising themselves in mortal guises and entering the timestreams, which they constantly attempt to maintain and repair. Bronze dragons are very cunning, much like blues, and value wisdom and patience over all else. Nozdormu, their patron Aspect of Time, is patience incarnate. In their duties bronze dragons on occasion turn to mortals. A few individuals in service of the bronze flight, possibly dragonsworn, refer to themselves as Watchers. Baristolth of the Shifting Sands was dying when Anachronos breathed upon him and he was bound as a Watcher. Jonathan the Revelator was empowered by the Timeless One himself and became keeper of the sacred gong and eternal watcher of the bronze flight. Ralo'shan the Eternal Watcher, a night elf forever tied to Staghelm Point also appears to be a Watcher. Xarantaur, a tauren druid historian was made a Watcher by Nozdormu in order to continue his studies of mortal civilizations. These individuals have been granted immortality in order to serve the needs of their draconic patrons. Bronze dragonkin are sometimes referred to as Amber. When taking humanoid form, most bronze dragons prefer to transform into gnomes, though humans and quel'dorei guises are also common. Types The bronze dragonflight includes the bronze dragons themselves as well as all other bronze dragonkin such as dragonspawn and drakonids. File:BronzeDrake.jpg|Bronze dragon File:BronzeDrake1.jpg|Bronze drake File:BronzeWhelp.jpg|Bronze whelp File:BronzeDragonspawn.jpg|Bronze dragonspawn File:BronzeDrakonid.jpg|Bronze drakonid RPG Culture Bronze dragons are often solitary creatures. They can best be described as aloof and introspective, constantly thinking and debating options in their mind. Bronze dragons are often seen near humanoid civilization. They disguise themselves and join mortal societies for extended periods of time, often without ever revealing their true identities, possibly for the reason of research or simply because they enjoy doing so. Bronzes will sometimes become actively involved with the communities they have joined and will lend a hand in order to maintain the safety of the present world at large. They keep watch over occupied regions to watch the development of other races and monitor how events impact the progress of fate. History Prior to the War of the Ancients the bronze dragons were numerous and co-existed peacefully with the other dragonflights, working together to safeguard their world. But this age would not last forever. In the early years following the sundering, is said that Deathwing's black flight attempted to subjugate the bronze dragons. The assault was unsuccessful, primarily because the bronze dragons did not stay and fight as expected. His command of time offering insight into the blacks' plans, Nozdormu alerted his flight of the danger. The bronze dragonflight scattered to the four corners of the globe, where they continued to monitor events and maintain watch over the mortal realm. Following the Battle of Mount Hyjal, bronze dragons were stationed at Hyjal Summit, where they, along with the reds, blues, and greens, guarded the World Tree from another attack by the remnants of the Burning Legion in Darkwhisper Gorge. Trivia/Notes (TBA) Credits *The entirety of this article comes directly from Wowpedia. The article can be viewed here. *The artwork on this article is official and was created by Blizzard Entertainment and/or their affiliates. Category:Races Category:Creatures Category:Draconic Category:Magical beasts